Examworthyexamworthy.comPMI Project Management Professional (PMP) cheat sheet
PMI
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At a glance
Format: Multiple choice, multiple response, matching, hotspot, and limited fill-in-the-blank
Domain weight map
Heaviest first - spend your time hereHow this exam thinks
PMP rewards the best NEXT action a servant-leader project manager would take, tailored to a predictive, agile, or hybrid context, not a textbook definition.
Spot the trap
Tempting wrong answers, and why they failTempting but wrong
Using a subcontractor is avoidance, because it removes the soldering scope and its threat entirely.
Why it fails
Avoidance eliminates the threat, often by removing or changing the scope. The soldering work still happens and the threat still exists; it has simply been moved to a party better able to bear it, which is transfer.
Process
Tempting but wrong
Should a PM escalate a normal team-formation dispute to the sponsor for a ruling?
Why it fails
No. Escalating a normal team-formation dispute is premature and undermines the team's ability to self-organise; the sponsor is not close enough to the work to make a better call than the team can.
People
Tempting but wrong
Should you default to the stricter interpretation and treat a disputed rule as a binding legal obligation to remove doubt?
Why it fails
No. Defaulting to the strictest reading seems safe, but committing to legal-grade effort without confirming the source can gold-plate the work and waste capacity on what may only be an internal preference.
Business Environment
Tempting but wrong
Engaging a partner to secure the bonus is exploit, because the aim is to make the opportunity certain.
Why it fails
Exploit seeks to make an opportunity certain and keeps the benefit wholly within the project. It is attractive because the goal is to secure the bonus, but the benefit is deliberately split with an external partner, so the response is share.
Process
Tempting but wrong
Should a PM cover a recurring outage's lost day by requesting approved overtime to protect the milestone dates?
Why it fails
No. Overtime tempts because it defends the dates, but it treats the symptom while the root-cause outage continues to burn a day a week and adds strain to the team.
People
Tempting but wrong
Can you ship a component that fails a safety standard now and fix it in a later maintenance release?
Why it fails
No. Promising a later fix protects the schedule and pleases the sponsor, but knowingly releasing a component that fails a regulatory safety standard is not defensible and can carry legal penalties.
Business Environment
Tempting but wrong
The dashboard is low quality because a premium analytics suite would offer far more capability.
Why it fails
Comparing against a richer product judges grade, not quality. It is tempting because more features feel better, but a product that meets its stated requirements accurately and reliably is high quality regardless of feature count.
Process
Tempting but wrong
Is agreeing to leave but requiring the team to send every design decision for the PM's approval a fair compromise?
Why it fails
No. Post-hoc approval appears to be a compromise, but retaining a sign-off gate keeps control in the manager's hands and contradicts the trust the team asked for.
People
Key terms
Exam-day rules
- Read every stem for the delivery approach. If it says predictive, agile, or hybrid, let that decide between otherwise similar options; a change board fits predictive, reprioritising the backlog fits agile.
- When asked what to do FIRST or NEXT, pick the earliest correct step in the process, not the most complete action. An answer that is right but skips assessment or engagement is still wrong.
- Default to collaborate and problem-solve on conflict, and try to resolve issues with the people involved before escalating to the sponsor.
- Distrust absolutes such as always and never, and distrust command-and-control moves; the outline expects servant leadership and a self-organising team.
- Never pick the option that adds unrequested scope. Gold plating is always a distractor, and uncontrolled change belongs in integrated change control.
Revision schedule
- Week 1Map the outline and set a realistic schedule
- Weeks 2-3Learn the People domain through the servant-leadership lens
- Weeks 3-5Master the Process domain as ordered sequences
- Week 6Cover Business Environment and the benefits chain
- Week 7Drill predictive, agile, and hybrid tailoring